Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Honesty compels me to admit that my child has great taste in music, thanks in large part to me, and, to a lesser degree, her mother. When we get in the car to go somewhere, the kid typically requests Green Day, The Who, The Cars or The Clash instead of Raffi or Veggie Tales or Hannah Montana or whatever crap kids tend to like right now. We do listen to High School Musical and other kids' stuff occasionally, but for the most part, my child likes what her mom and dad like (Mom leans a bit more hip-hop and funk than Dad).

I wasn't the same as a child. Yes, I liked some of the records my parents had, but they didn't have a lot, so we mostly listened to the radio. And, while 70s radio played a lot of great stuff, it also played a lot of complete and utter shit. Like these songs, five of the worst you'll ever hear. And I liked them.

So profound: "Peace on Earth was all it said." PSYCH!! They all got punk'd. As for Billy Jack, the movie that the song comes from, I never got it. He walks around talking about being an Indian (what we called Native Americans in the 70s) and what they do and don't do, and the guy looks no more "Indian" than Conan O'Brien. But go figure, Billy Jack and its sequels made a bunch of money. And -- boy oh boy! -- there could be new ones coming. From Wikipedia: "He [actor/director Tom Laughlin] is currently seeking funding for a fifth Billy Jack film in two parts. When originally announced in 2004, it was entitled Billy Jack's Crusade to End the War in Iraq and Restore America to Its Moral Purpose; this was shortened to Billy Jack's Moral Revolution in 2006. In 2008, the film was titled Billy Jack for President. Recently, it has been re-titled Billy Jack and Jean. Laughlin promises it will be a "new genre of film": a great deal of social commentary on politics, religion, psychology, etc. will be discussed, and a debate will take place between Billy Jack and President George W. Bush via computer manipulation of archived speeches."Now there's something to look forward to.

The link is from Megan, who writes: "I saw this & thought to my self, self, there's no way that's for reals. But it is. A googling reveals: 'The Speedfit is a line of people-powered treadmills. The Speedfit Treadmobile is a treadmill mounted on four wheels. As a person exercises, the treadmill moves across a flat terrain such as a road. It is steered with handlebars. The Speedfit was designed by Alex Astilean and shown at the 2008 International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) trade show in San Diego, California. The Speedfit is currently in prototype stage and is looking for investors.'"

Count me in! Where do I send the check? But seriously -- the vid is from 2007. I wonder if they found any sucke-- oops, I mean investors?

Megan adds, "My fave part of the video? A tie between the soundtrack and when it's two guys on the treadmill at once - a personal fantasy of mine."

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" ("Porkin' your widow," I wanted to say.)

Not long after I started working at TBS back in '93, the president of the network called all the on-air employees into a meeting for a big announcement. This was a rare event. TBS was already a big network, and we almost never saw the Big Man himself. So off we all trotted up to the plush third-floor executive conference room, about 20 of us. "I wanted you all to hear the news before the official announcement went out. I'm very excited." His tone was serious; this was obviously something huge."We've just acquired a fantastic sitcom. We expect big things from it, and it will be the cornerstone of our new afternoon comedy block. The show is... Charles In Charge."